Czech Republic (2007) | Ecuador (2004) | |
Administrative divisions | 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj | 22 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 738,391/female 698,999)
15-64 years: 71.2% (male 3,657,877/female 3,627,493) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 588,531/female 917,453) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 33.9% (male 2,285,775; female 2,199,356)
15-64 years: 61.2% (male 4,020,873; female 4,062,672) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 302,129; female 341,937) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry | bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp |
Airports | 122 (2007) | 205 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 45
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 18 (2007) |
total: 62
over 3,047 m: 3 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 19 under 914 m: 18 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 77
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 26 under 914 m: 50 (2007) |
total: 143
914 to 1,523 m: 30 under 914 m: 113 (2004 est.) |
Area | total: 78,866 sq km
land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km |
total: 283,560 sq km
land: 276,840 sq km water: 6,720 sq km note: includes Galapagos Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly smaller than Nevada |
Background | Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. | The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Nine presidents have governed Ecuador since 1996. |
Birth rate | 8.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 23.18 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $56.31 billion
expenditures: $62.57 billion (2006 est.) |
revenues: $6.908 billion
expenditures: planned $6.594 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2003) |
Capital | name: Prague
geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Quito |
Climate | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters | tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,237 km |
Constitution | ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993 | 10 August 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cesko |
conventional long form: Republic of Ecuador
conventional short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador local short form: Ecuador |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 10.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 4.26 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $55.47 billion (2006 est.) | $15.69 billion (2003) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. GRABER
embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] 257 022 000 FAX: [420] 257 022 809 |
chief of mission: Ambassador Kristie Anne KENNEY
embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito mailing address: APO AA 34039 telephone: [593] (2) 256-2890 FAX: [593] (2) 250-2052 consulate(s) general: Guayaquil |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Petr KOLAR
chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant)
chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7200 FAX: [1] (202) 667-3482 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in an Austrian parliamentary motion threatening international legal action | the continuing civil disorder in Colombia has created a serious refugee crisis in neighboring states, especially Ecuador |
Economic aid - recipient | $278.7 million in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004) | $120 million (2001) |
Economy - overview | The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-05 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as interest rates drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3% of GDP as demand for Czech products in the European Union has increased. Inflation is under control. Recent accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction to structural reform. In early 2004, the government passed increases in the Value Added Tax (VAT) and tightened eligibility for social benefits with the intention to bring the public finance gap down to 4% of GDP by 2006. However, due to significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections, the government is not likely to meet this goal. Negotiations on pension and healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Privatization of the state-owned telecommunications firm Cesky Telecom took place in 2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. | Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of public sector revenues in recent years. Consequently, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. In the late 1990s, Ecuador suffered its worst economic crisis, with natural disasters and sharp declines in world petroleum prices driving Ecuador's economy into free fall in 1999. Real GDP contracted by more than 6%, with poverty worsening significantly. The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its external debt later that year. The currency depreciated by some 70% in 1999, and, on the brink of hyperinflation, the MAHAUD government announced it would dollarize the economy. A coup, however, ousted MAHAUD from office in January 2000, and after a short-lived junta failed to garner military support, Vice President Gustavo NOBOA took over the presidency. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided the framework for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and growth returned to its pre-crisis levels in the years that followed. Under the administration of Lucio GUTIERREZ, who took office in January 2003, Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices, but the government has made little progress on fiscal reforms and reforms of state-owned enterprises necessary to reduce Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises. |
Electricity - consumption | 59.72 billion kWh (2005) | 69.96 billion kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 24.99 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 12.35 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 77.38 billion kWh (2005) | 75.23 billion kWh (2001) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Elbe River 115 m
highest point: Snezka 1,602 m |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m |
Environment - current issues | air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes in ecologically sensitive areas of the Amazon Basin and Galapagos Islands |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census) | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3% |
Exchange rates | koruny per US dollar - 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003), 32.739 (2002) | Ecuador formally adopted the US dollar as legal tender in March 2000 |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007), Jiri CUNEK (since 9 January 2007), Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Alexandr VONDRA (since 9 January 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 28 February 2003 (after earlier elections held 15 and 24 January 2003 were inconclusive; next election to be held in January 2008); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS elected president on 28 February 2003; Vaclav KLAUS 142 votes, Jan SOKOL 124 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament) |
chief of state: President Lucio GUTIERREZ (since 15 January 2003); Vice President Alfredo PALACIO (since 15 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Lucio GUTIERREZ (since 15 January 2003); Vice President Alfredo PALACIO (since 15 January 2003); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: the president and vice president are elected on the same ticket by popular vote for a four-year term (no immediate reelection); election last held 20 October 2002; runoff election held 24 November 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006) election results: results of the 24 November 2002 runoff election - Lucio GUTIERREZ elected president; percent of vote - Lucio GUTIERREZ 54.3%; Alvaro NOBOA 45.7% |
Exports | 20,930 bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003) | petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp |
Exports - partners | Germany 31.9%, Slovakia 8.5%, Poland 5.7%, France 5.6%, Austria 5.1%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.6% (2006) | US 42.4%, Colombia 5.7%, Germany 5.6% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side (identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia) | three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia, which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $45.65 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2.7%
industry: 39.1% services: 58.2% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 8.7%
industry: 29.7% services: 61.6% (2003 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $3,300 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6.4% (2006 est.) | 2.5% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 45 N, 15 30 E | 2 00 S, 77 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe | Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | 1 (2003 est.) |
Highways | - | total: 43,197 km
paved: 8,164 km unpaved: 35,033 km (2000) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) |
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 33.8% (1995) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime; significant consumer of ecstasy | significant transit country for cocaine originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; attractive location for cash-placement by drug traffickers laundering money because of dollarization and weak anti-money-laundering regime, especially vulnerable along the border with Colombia; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents |
Imports | 203,700 bbl/day (2004) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003) | consumer goods, industrial raw materials, capital goods |
Imports - partners | Germany 32%, Netherlands 6.5%, Slovakia 6.1%, Poland 6.1%, Russia 5.7%, Austria 4.9%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.4% (2006) | US 23.9%, Colombia 12.8%, Venezuela 7.1%, Brazil 6.1%, Chile 4.8%, Japan 4.2% (2003) |
Independence | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) | 24 May 1822 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 9.5% (2006 est.) | 5.3% (2003 est.) |
Industries | metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments | petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals |
Infant mortality rate | total: 3.86 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 24.49 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 29.34 deaths/1,000 live births female: 19.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.5% (2006 est.) | 7.9% (2003 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC | CAN, FAO, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNOCI, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 240 sq km (2003) | 8,650 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema; note - per the Constitution, new justices are elected by the full Supreme Court; In December 2004, however, Congress successfully replaced the entire court via a simple-majority resolution |
Labor force | 5.334 million (2006 est.) | 4.36 million (urban) (2003) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 37.6% services: 58.3% (2003) |
agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (2001 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,290.2 km
border countries: Austria 466.3 km, Germany 810.3 km, Poland 761.8 km, Slovakia 251.8 km |
total: 2,010 km
border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km |
Land use | arable land: 38.82%
permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005) |
arable land: 5.85%
permanent crops: 4.93% other: 89.22% (2001) |
Languages | Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census) | Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua) |
Legal system | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in two rounds 20-21 and 27-28 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2-3 June 2006 (next to be held by June 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODS 41, CSSD 12, KDU-CSL 11, others 15, independents 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ODS 35.4%, CSSD 32.3%, KSCM 12.8%, KDU-CSL 7.2%, Greens 6.3%, other 6%; seats by party - ODS 81, CSSD 74, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6 |
unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (100 seats; members are popularly elected by province to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 October 2002 (next to be held NA October 2006) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSC 25, PRE 15, ID 16, PRIAN 10, PSP 9, Pachakutik Movement 6, MPD 5, DP 4, PS-FA 3, independents 7; note - defections by members of National Congress are commonplace, resulting in frequent changes in the numbers of seats held by the various parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.42 years
male: 73.14 years female: 79.88 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 76.01 years
male: 73.15 years female: 79 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.5% male: 94% female: 91% (2003 est.) |
Location | Central Europe, southeast of Germany | Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru |
Map references | Europe | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 100 nm from 2,500 meter isobath |
Merchant marine | registered in other countries: 1 (St Vincent and The Grenadines 1) (2007) | total: 34 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 241,403 GRT/391,898 DWT
by type: cargo 2, chemical tanker 4, liquefied gas 1, passenger 5, petroleum tanker 21, specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: Greece 1, Paraguay 1, Peru 1 registered in other countries: 3 (2004 est.) |
Military branches | Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes Army and Air Forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2007) | Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, National Police |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $650 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.81% (2005 est.) | 2.4% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49: 3,440,371 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49: 2,315,808 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males: 132,476 (2004 est.) |
National holiday | Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918) | Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809) |
Nationality | noun: Czech(s)
adjective: Czech |
noun: Ecuadorian(s)
adjective: Ecuadorian |
Natural hazards | flooding | frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; floods; periodic droughts |
Natural resources | hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber | petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -8.58 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2006) | extra heavy crude 578 km; gas 71 km; oil 1,386 km; refined products 1,185 km (2004) |
Political parties and leaders | Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Jana HYBASKOVA]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK]; Civic Democratic Alliance or ODA [Jirina NOVAKOVA]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK]; Freedom Union-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan HADRAVA]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ] | Concentration of Popular Forces or CFP [Averroes BUCARAM]; Democratic Left or ID [Guillermo LANDAZURI]; National Action Institutional Renewal Party or PRIAN [Alvaro NOBOA]; Pachakutik Movement [Gilberto TALAHUA]; Patriotic Society Party or PSP [Lucio GUTIERREZ Borbua]; Popular Democracy or DP [Dr. Juan Manuel FUERTES]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [Gustavo TERAN Acosta]; Radical Alfarista Front or FRA [Fabian ALARCON, director]; Roldosist Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Leon FEBRES CORDERO]; Socialist Party - Broad Front or PS-FA [Victor GRANDA] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH] | Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Luis MACAS, president]; Coordinator of Social Movements or CMS [F. Napoleon SANTOS]; Federation of Indigenous Evangelists of Ecuador or FEINE [Marco MURILLO, president]; National Federation of Indigenous Afro-Ecuatorianos and Peasants or FENOCIN [Pedro DE LA CRUZ, president]; Popular Front or FP [Luis VILLACIS] |
Population | 10,228,744 (July 2007 est.) | 13,212,742 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 65% (2003 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.071% (2007 est.) | 1.03% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, San Lorenzo |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000) | AM 392, FM 35, shortwave 29 (2001) |
Railways | total: 9,597 km
standard gauge: 9,597 km 1.435-m gauge (3,041 km electrified) (2006) |
total: 966 km
narrow gauge: 966 km 1.067-m gauge (2003) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census) | Roman Catholic 95% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.641 male(s)/female total population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters |
Telephone system | general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s; mobile telephone usage increased sharply beginning in the mid-1990s and there are now about 120 mobile telephones per 100 persons
domestic: 93% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar (2007) |
general assessment: generally elementary but being expanded
domestic: facilities generally inadequate and unreliable international: country code - 593; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 3,217,300 (2005) | 1.549 million (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 12.15 million (2006) | 2,394,400 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000) | 7 (plus 14 repeaters) (2001) |
Terrain | Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country | coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente) |
Total fertility rate | 1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.78 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 8.4% (2006 est.) | 9.8%; note - underemployment of 47% (2003 est.) |
Waterways | 664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2006) | 1,500 km (most inaccessible) (2003) |